“The University of Alabama has been a very special place for Terry and me,” Saban said in a statement. “It’s not just about how many games we won or lost, it’s about the legacy and how we approached it. We’ve always tried to do it the right way.”
Saban, 72, took over in 2007 and restored the Crimson Tide program, once ruled by Paul “Bear” Bryant, to the top of college football. As his wins piled up, Saban’s celebrity status reached the level of Alabama royalty.
For a while, he was the champion of the sport and there was little that could be done to stop him.
Saban won six titles in 17 seasons at Alabama. He won his first championship with LSU in 2003. His Tide team surprisingly ranked No. 1 in the AP poll for his 15th consecutive season, breaking his old record of seven seasons held by Miami.
Saban’s wife, Terry, posted about the “incredible run” at Alabama on the Knicks Kids Foundation Facebook page.
“I hope Saban’s legacy is not only a tradition of winning on the field, but one of helping others and making a positive difference in people’s lives,” Terry Saban wrote.
Saban’s guidance helped launch the head coaching careers of Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian and Mississippi State’s Lane Kiffin.
He finished his final season just shy of the top spot, leading the tide after a shaky start to a Southeastern Conference championship and a return to the College Football Playoff, but lost in overtime to Michigan in the Rose Bowl semifinals. was defeated.
Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne called him “one of the greatest coaches of all time in any sport.”
Saban led the Tide to nine SEC championships and won Alabama’s first national title with a 14-0 season in 2009. He also won the title in 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, and 2020. He also won SEC championships with LSU in 2001 and 2003. .
After debuting 7-6 in 2007, Saban won at least 10 games in each of his final 16 seasons.
It wasn’t until the rise of Dabo Swinney’s Clemson teams and then Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs in the late 2010s that any school was seen as a consistent threat to the Tide.
Saban’s departure comes as the structure of college football changes dramatically. “College football has just lost its GOAT,” Colorado coach Deion Sanders, who has sought to capitalize on the intervention of players who financially benefit from their play on the field, said on social media.
“Wow! I knew it would happen within a day, but it didn’t happen this fast,” he wrote, “The game has changed so much that we’ve driven away the GOAT. Hey college football, hold up a mirror. , be honest about what you see.”
Terry Saban addressed changes in college football in his post, referencing his husband’s famous “process.”
“The rules of football may change, but the ‘process’ never goes out of style: hard work, discipline, the constant pursuit of worthy goals, cutting no corners, and getting things right for society. “Do it in a way. It’s about continuous personal improvement, not about the scoreboard,” she wrote.
Saban entered the NFL for two years with the Miami Dolphins before returning to college and reviving one of the nation’s most storied programs that hadn’t won a national title in 15 years. Saban is 297-71-1 as a college head coach with stops at Toledo, Michigan State and LSU. But Alabama is where he cemented his place as one of college football’s great coaches.
He coached Alabama’s first four Heisman Trophy winners and numerous NFL players, posting a record of 206-29 and a winning percentage of 87.7%. His teams produced 44 first-round draft picks, including last year’s No. 1 quarterback, Bryce Young.
During that time, he also adapted to the changing era of up-tempo offenses, churning out high-scoring teams after winning with the new NIL and transfer rules, as well as the best defense in the country.
He led Toledo to the Mid-American Conference championship in 1990, his only season as the program’s coach. Saban became the first Michigan State coach to lead his first three teams to a bowl game after spending four seasons as Bill Belichick’s defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns.
“I think he’s the greatest coach in the history of football,” Tom Izzo, Michigan State basketball coach and longtime friend of Saban, said in a phone interview Wednesday. “There are a lot of great coaches, but in a time when so many people and things are coming at you, what he accomplished and the consistency with which he did it is remarkable.”
Saban’s newest team faced a lot of adversity early on, including a loss to Texas, but bounced back with the emergence of quarterback Jalen Milroe and upset the then-No. 1 team. 1 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.
Saban didn’t seem like a coach who was going to quit his job immediately after the game. But even without a title, it wasn’t a bad way to go.
“This season was one of the greatest in Alabama football history in terms of where this team came from, what it was able to accomplish, winning the SEC Championship, and I’m really proud of this group. ” he said. “I wish I could have done more as a coach to help them succeed and help them finish. All we can do now is learn from the lessons that sometimes failure brings.”
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey feels Saban is not completely done with college football.
“You know Nick? He’s not away from the game. He’s trying to step away from the role,” Sankey said.
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AP Sports Writers Larry Rage and Ralph Russo contributed to this report.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
